Did you know that one of the benefits of living with people who are different
from you is how God can use those people to help you to become more Christ-like?
Perhaps, as you think about those in your own home or those within your
relationship sphere they have personality differences that aren't like
you. How do you perceive them? How do you see their personality differences? Do
they rub you the wrong way or do you see them as a means of grace that God is
using to help you to become more like Christ? Well, in this video, I want to give
you nine ways to assess yourself to see how people with different personalities
from you are helping you to become more Christ-like.
[Music]
Hello, everyone. Rick Thomas here. We're helping people live effective lives. I'm
going to give you nine data points, nine ways that you can compare yourself to
Christ to see how you are doing, especially in the context of living with
people who are different from you. If you want to read the article from which this
video comes from, I have it linked here in the description of this video. You
also see it here on the screen, and so you can go to this article, you can
listen to the podcast, or you can read it to get a fuller explanation of what I'm
talking about in this video. But we all live with people with different
personalities than ours. Now, truly, we don't want people to be like us, though
sometimes their personalities are so different that it does rub us the wrong
way. Well, this is an excellent way for you to assess how you interact with them.
And of course, how you interact with them will reveal to you if you're being
Christ-like or not. Well, what does it mean to be Christ-like? I'm not gonna
give you an exhaustive list of what it means to be like Jesus, but I do want to
give you nine data points. And so as I go through these, maybe you can hold up
Jesus as a mirror and see how well you are reflecting Christ, specifically
in relationships with people who are different from you. Number one:
Jesus has forgiven you of the worst sin known to humanity, which is your crime
against God. We have been forgiven by God. This is a huge idea Forgiveness, I'm
talking about. God has forgiven you, therefore, you want to have a forgiving
attitude toward those who are around you. And so one of the questions that you
can ask yourself is, "Am I exhibiting a heart of forgiveness toward those around
me? Why do I want to do that? Because God has forgiven me."
Number two: Jesus does not condemn you. The verse that we love to say is,
"Therefore, there is no more condemnation in Christ," as Paul talked about in Romans
8. Because God does not condemn you any longer
I am assuming that you are a Christianit provokes
you, it motivates you to want to walk in humility and then, out of that humility,
you no longer have a critical attitude toward others. And so point number
two, there is no more condemnation, which humbles you and it gives you a
non-critical spirit. Number three: Jesus creates and operates
within a context of grace. We hear this right from the beginning: "For by grace
you are saved." We operate within these environments of grace, which allows us to
flourish and to grow up in Christ-likeness.
How are you imitating Jesus in this one area? Are you creating environments of
grace for those who are around you to flourish? And so the first three data
points are (1) Jesus has forgiven you, so you have a forgiving heart. (2) Jesus does not
condemn you, so you do not have a critical spirit. Number three, Jesus creates
and operates within a context of grace, therefore you imitate that. You want to
be like Christ and you create environments
of grace for those within your sphere of influence to operate. Number four:
Jesus receives and loves people who are different from Him. That is the point of
the entire video: living with people who have personality differences, different
from you, not to accept someone because they are different from you. Well, that is
not Christ-like. We could not be any more different from Christ, yet He took on
flesh and became like us and He brought us into His family. Point number four,
Jesus receives and loves people who are different from Him. Number five: Jesus is
tenacious in His desire to help you change. We have a relentless God who
pursues people and He has pursued you. He pursues you, not just in salvation (that
is true, and thank God for salvation), but He also pursues us in our sanctification
as well. How tenacious are you in pursuing those within your sphere of
influence to help them to grow up in Christ? Point number five,
Jesus is tenacious in His desire to help you change. Number six: Jesus has a
profound love for you, which has a humbling effect. I'm talking specifically
of the love of God. As you saturate your mind, as you cultivate your heart in the
love that Christ has for you, it motivates you to want to demonstrate a
similar kind of affection for those who are around you. How much affection do you
have for those within your sphere, more specifically, for those who are different
from you? Does the affection or the love of God
that He has impressed upon you flow out of you as you have affection
for others? Point number six. Number seven: Jesus endured many hardships because of
His desire for you to be a different kind of person.
Jesus is the prototype for us to emulate at this point. Many times we have
to overlook offenses, we have to endure hard circumstances, relational situations
with people. I'm not suggesting that you should be a victim of abuse in any way,
but sometimes, in our normal day-to-day interactions with people, we have to
endure things that may not meet our preferences. Again, I'm talking about
personality differences in this video. And so how do you react to others? Point number
seven, Jesus endured hardships because He wanted us to be a different kind of
person. How are you enduring to help others to
grow up in Christ? Number eight, Jesus does not need you to be happy.
Think about this: His relationship with his Heavenly Father
was so thoroughly satisfying that it released Him from being needy. Jesus
didn't have an empty love cup. Like what the psalmist said in 23, "My cup runs over,"
Jesus' cup ran over with relational fulfillment from His Father, therefore, He
was not a needy person on a horizontal level. Many people enter into
relationships for what they can get out of it. "What is in it for me?" That's not
how Jesus thinks about relationships, primarily. He is more desirous to give, to
invest in the relationship. Point number eight, Jesus doesn't need you to be happy.
He is already content in Christ. How is your contentment in Christ releasing you
from needing that person, which compels you and propels you to invest into their
lives? And then finally, point number nine: Jesus has shown transcendent patience
towards you, which is the model that you want to emulate. If you live with people
with different personalities from yoursof course, if
you live with anyone, they have a different personality from youor
perhaps in the workplace and also within the
Church environment. Everybody is different. Praise God! Well, again, we were
different from Christ, but He showed a transcendent patience. "Transcendence"
means that it "rises above," and so His patience is greater than what our normal
experience is, but here's the thing: you have the power resident in you
through the work of the Spirit of God to be patient with those who are different
from you. And so nine ways to be like Jesus to others. Number one: you can forgive
others. Number two: you can refrain from criticism. Number three: you create an
environment of grace for them to flourish.
Number four: you love those who are different. Number five: you want to help
others change. Number six: you have affection for other people. And then
number seven, you endure difficult relationships. Again, not talking about
abuse, but talking about the normal day-to-day interactions that we have
with people who are different from us. You endure difficult relationships.
Number eight: you don't need others, which releases you to serve them. And then
number nine, you are patient with all people. Nine ways that we can be Christ
to people who are different from us. Again, if you want to read a fuller
transcript of what I just shared with you, click on the link in the video
description. You can read the entire article or you can listen to the podcast.
And as always, if you want to talk to us about what you have just heard or maybe
something else is on your mind, we have a free community forum that you can jump
on and our team would love to serve you with whatever your questions may be.
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and to reach more people organically. And so if you would subscribe I would be
grateful. Also, share this video with someone that you love, someone who is
different from you. Maybe it will spur you on to some wonderful conversations.
Thank you so much for watching the video.
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